Place cards are the small named cards waiting at each seat. They only matter if you assign seats. If you assign tables and let guests choose their own chairs, which most weddings do, you need escort cards or a seating sign instead, and you can skip place cards entirely. Knowing which situation you are in settles half the questions on this page.
Escort cards vs place cards
The two get mixed up constantly because they look alike: small cards, guest names, elegant type. The difference is where they sit and what they tell a guest.
| Escort card | Place card | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it goes | At the entrance, on a table or board | At the table, on or above the plate |
| What it says | Name and table number | Name (and often a meal marker) |
| What it answers | "Which table am I at?" | "Which chair is mine?" |
| How many | One per person, couple, or household | Always one per person |
| When you need it | Any wedding with assigned tables | Only when seats are assigned |
With assigned tables only, escort cards or a find-your-seat sign do the whole job. With assigned seats, the two layers work together: the escort card gets a guest to Table 7, and the place card ends the polite hovering once they arrive. Two cases make place cards close to required: a plated dinner with entree choices, because servers need to know who ordered what, and long head or family tables where you want specific people beside each other.
Wording: getting every name right
- Pick one formality level and hold it. "Mr. Jonathan Reyes," "Jonathan Reyes," and "Jon" are all fine; mixing them on one table is what looks like a mistake.
- Use titles people have earned if you are going formal: Dr., military rank, The Honorable. If one guest gets a title, check the whole list so nobody is missed.
- Couples can share an escort card ("Avery and Sam Lee"), but place cards are one per chair, so each partner gets their own.
- Plus-ones deserve a name. Ask for it on the RSVP; a card that says "Priya Nair" reads far warmer than "and Guest." Save "and Guest" for the rare truly unknown companion.
- Kids get their own cards. First names are fine, and children usually enjoy finding them.
- Alphabetize escort cards by last name, because that is how guests scan for themselves at the door.
Sizes and printing
The standard folded tent card is 3.5 by 2 inches as it stands on the table, printed as a 3.5 by 4 inch panel and folded in half. Flat cards are usually 2 by 3.5 inches, the size of a business card, and lean against a glass or sit in a small holder. Escort cards use the same sizes, so one paper order covers both.
Print on cardstock in the 80-110 lb cover range; anything lighter and tent cards wilt instead of standing. At home, print one test sheet first and cut along guides with a straightedge, not scissors. A print shop is the easier route for a full set: cardstock, clean cuts, and often same-day turnaround for a modest cost. Matte stock is easier to read by candlelight than gloss.
Meal markers: the quiet favor to your caterer
At a plated dinner with entree choices, servers need to know which guest ordered the beef, the fish, or the vegetarian plate. A small icon or colored dot on each place card answers that without a single "who had the salmon?" round the table. The markers should come from the same data as your caterer's meal list, so the count of fish icons on Table 7 matches the count on the kitchen sheet exactly.
When to print: a realistic timeline
- 6-8 weeks out: choose a card style and collect meal choices with your RSVPs.
- 3-4 weeks out: RSVP deadline. Chase the stragglers now, not later.
- 2 weeks out: finalize the seating chart. Check your seats per table once more before you lock it.
- 1-2 weeks out: print escort cards and place cards from the final chart.
- The last few days: reprint individual cards for late changes rather than the whole set.
Print last, not first
Place cards are the last paper item to print, because they encode the most detail: name, table, seat, and meal. Every RSVP change ripples into them, so printing before the deadline closes almost guarantees a reprint.
Cards that stay in sync with your chart
The stressful version of place cards is a design file you update by hand every time a guest declines. The calm version is generating them from the seating chart itself. In Seatful, once your chart is built you can print tent place cards, escort cards, and table numbers merged from the names and tables already in your plan, in three styles with standard sizes and cut guides, and meal icons pulled from each guest's RSVP choice. Change the chart and reprint just the affected page; the cards cannot drift out of sync because there is no second file to maintain.
If the chart itself is still ahead of you, start with our step-by-step seating chart guide, or build it free in your browser and print every card from the finished plan.